I want you rewind back to when you were a kid or maybe a teenager. A lot of us remember those days as the times where we had little responsibility or we had our first girlfriends or boyfriends. The majorities of us look back on those days and think of how happy and easy it was to be a teenager or kid.
It is also very easy to look back and forget how tough it was to be a teenager or kid, right? Remember those days when we were on edge with our parents about having the latest sneakers, hairstyles, and etc. We did all this, just so we could “fit in.” Now that we are older, none of that seems important anymore, but to the newest kids and teenagers it still does.
This is why I wanted to share a story about a beautiful girl named Lizeth Faviola Rios. She came to New Look Institute and me through a program called Wigs for Kids. The reason why Wigs for Kids is so near to my heart is because New Look Institute believes in its mission and is an Ambassador for the Nonprofit. Wigs for Kids offers free wigs to kids that are suffering from hair loss. We offer these wigs to families that do not have the means to do so for themselves.
Lizeth was faced with a challenge, that forced her to go through Chemotherapy at an early age. The negative effects of Chemotherapy set in as Lizeth began experiencing hair loss. No one wants to go through hair loss and we know this first hand, but seeing a young child experiencing it through the times of having to “fit in” breaks my heart.
Lizeth is a very strong middle school student that decided to wear a hat at school to help keep her hair loss private. In middle school Lizeth would be perceived as different, and she did not want to be seen that way.
When Lizeth walked through our doors she was still wearing her hat and refuse to take it off until she was in one of our private rooms with a stylist. The stylist worked with her on coming up with a custom hairstyle. Lizeth loved to pull her hair to the side, so we came up with a style that would accommodate her wish.
After she was done, she came out of the room with a huge smile on her face. That is when we received the biggest compliment any young person could give to us; Lizeth said, “I feel normal.” To everyone out there who has been a kid or teenager already know how important it was to be perceived normal, although now that we are older, it does not seem as important anymore. I wish Lizeth the best and hope she continues to be the strong person she is.
